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We have entered week two of this ridiculous government shutdown, and I really really really want to get back to work. The weather has turned to fall today with driving rain and dropping temperatures, which also sapped my motivation to do anything particularly productive.

Our wedding photographer, Katarina Price, delivered our wedding photos just when I needed an indoor activity to keep me fully occupied! I promised a while ago to share details from our big day, especially those details that I crafted or otherwise put together with family and friends to make our day really personal and totally us for our “Lucky in Love” theme.

So here we go with the ‘American’ wedding details! And I should also mention that today is our big one month anniversary 🙂

We are now T – 2 days until our Dam Hoi Engagement Ceremony. Things are getting done and it’s certainly a team effort.

Last night we prepared the mam or trays that will carry gifts to my parents. We hung some decorations to make the house more festive for the celebration and that even helped raise the excitement level, for me anyways.

Here are the gift trays prepped and ready to roll to my parent’s front door:

We will also have fireworks outside his family’s house as we return. Check out my MacGuyver work on these (formerly)hand-held fireworks:

I am told the fireworks ward off any negative energy around us as we move forward to join our families together with a clean slate and positive energy. Pretty cool tradition.

I won’t share any more photos as I don’t want to spoil what will be the finished product that will be well captured by our photographer that day.

Our Dam Hoi is starting early in the as we would normally during the work week. As such, my good friend will be at my parent’s house (with bells on, no doubt) at 6 AM to do my hair and make-up for the day. That’s 6 o’clock in the morning if you missed it when abbreviated. That means I also have to be showered and mostly dressed by that time. I may be building in a siesta later in the day until I catch a second or third wind!

I asked about the significance of the ceremony time, and Ba (dad) told me that traditionally families often consult a fortune teller to find the lucky time for the promising ceremony to take place. We didn’t go that route, so thus counting backwards from noon-ish when people are hungry, we’re starting the ceremony around 9 AM at my parent’s home.

Makes sense to me!

Having previously scoured the Internet, there doesn’t seem to be any absolute rules and customs that are followed through and through. Especially as families move away from Vietnam and relationships become more modern, it’s logical that the ceremony evolves a bit. However I do love the essence and foundation of our Dam Hoi is deeply rooted in tradition.

Like this:

I need to find my my work/life/workout balance. And by life, I mean Vietnamese recipe testing and general exploration. Having bootcamp 2x per week plus 2 nights of pool makes for an over-scheduled girls. We have our house playoffs tonight for the league that I’m leaving, so depending on how it goes I may have more time on my hands. As I run out the door each morning, I look wistfully at my Vietnamese cookbook promising I’ll get back to it. Whoever says planning a wedding is easy breezy is full of it. Even with my rockstar wedding planner, Rex & Regina, I still have things to craft, fittings to schedule, and details to decide. Plus it’s nearly summer, which means beach trips, birthday BBQs and the rest.

With this in mind, we hosted our nieces and nephew last weekend that at least allowed for breakfast and lunch. Their parents make scrambled eggs with sugar and fish sauce, but that’s one Vietnamese mod I won’t be making. Leave me with my cheese, chives and butter, thankyouverymuch. So the Martha-Stewart-me arose by 8 each day to get the day started and make sure the little people were fed. I baked the Pioneer Woman’s oatmeal bars with raspberry jam, and this delicious coconut banana bread from Fit Sugar. You should definitely make this. It’s just sweet enough and has a little citrusy tang thanks to a 1/4 cup orange juice. Don’t know why I haven’t thought of adding coconut to banana bread before. I also stumbled across a tasty kabob marinade that uses all of our favorite things that I just had to try. By the way, I’m loving Picture the Recipe’s format. Great visuals and straightforward.

With coconut banana bread in the oven, I mixed up the marinade for what we planned to be lunch that day. With the rest of the house still asleep, I wasn’t going to use my mini-food prep processor, so just chopped and mixed the herbs by hand. So considerate, aren’t I?

By the way – how amazing is our herb planter? Cilantro, culantro and mint only a few paces from the kitchen. Heavenly.